Phuket Trip - James Bond Island

This was a sisters' weekend trip to Phuket. When we were there, we decided to visit James Bond Island, better known for its namesake shooting which occured in 1974 (The Man with the Golden Gun). Pretty impressive how a movie shot so many years ago still had its hold on this little island, some 6km away from mainland (according to Google). Mind you, that's mainland and not Phuket. It was a last minute trip since I was not even sure when I would be in, so we just booked some tours from the airport and there we go~ Instant plans for the day!

The trip started with a van fetching us from the hotel and dropping us off at the jetty. Khao Ping Khan is actually the beach nearest to the island and the James Bond Island is actually Koh Tapu but most people wouldn't know that. Even as I am typing this, I just knew it from googling. Ah, the wonders of Mr Google. The two hour boat ride to the island was pretty boring and meals onboard include some fried noodles and chicken buffet-style. It wasn't that impressive but for the price I guess we couldn't complain.

The tour included some canoe rides and even though we looked like we were smiling and care-free here, we were pretty freaked out when we had to climb onboard the canoe from the boat right in the middle of the ocean and nobody get no life-vests! OMG! Maybe it's just cause we both couldn't swim and it's kind of scary if you have to balance onto a life raft and risk falling no? :S The canoe was paddled by a boatman and ours are pretty friendly. The views are great too and since no need to paddle, it was quite relaxing after we managed to calm down and take in the sights.

Then it's back onboard to the next stop which is Khao Ping Khan beach. There are sooo much stalls lined up there selling all the knick-knacks you can think of at very high prices (initially). Pearl bracelets, waterproof pockets, you name it, they have it. After some bargaining we bought some bracelets and small magnets. For an idea, the initial bracelets cost somewhere around 800baht. After bargaining I got two for 200baht instead. You get the picture right?

Then it's back for some more action in some other islands I think. We were off for more canoeing. Now after pestering the guide for life jackets, both my sis and I were sporting orange life jackets. When some of the aunties saw us, they also got themselves some. LOL. So we didn't end up being the only ones with life jackets.
 

 

The guide caught a tiny baby jellyfish! And they kept it for a while in this tiny jar before releasing it back to the ocean! So cute~

After this they stopped at another island where the guide informed us we can either go down or stay onboard. We opted for the latter mainly because the beach was overflowing with monkeys! OMG! And we don't feel like canoeing by ourselves around that area too.

Overall, I feel the islands were alright but maybe once is enough. :)